The Plurinational and Intercultural State: Decolonization and State Re-founding in Ecuador

In South America, State formation has found its ground in an alleged homogeneity and unity tied to the dominant economic, political, social and cultural order and the interests of capital. The present efforts in countries like Bolivia and Ecuador to transform State, shed it of its colonial, neoliberal and imperial weight, and re-found it from the diversity of peoples, cultures, and historical practices - are transcendental. The article thoroughly considers the new model of the plurinational and intercultural state in Ecuador, where the plurinational allows a departure from the uni-national frame through its emphasis on the plural-national as a more adequate structure to unify and integrate, and interculturality points to the expressions of the relationships to be constructed. The author argues that both are necessary component in the re-imagining and re-founding paving the way towards a new philosophy, practice, and project of 'living well'.